I still had to see Oswald Pohl, the big boss of the WVHA. He received me, in his offices on Unter den Eichen, with expansive cordiality and chatted with me about Kiel, where he had spent many years in the Kriegsmarine. It was there, in the Kasino, that the Reichsführer had noticed and recruited him, in the summer of 1933. Pohl had begun by centralizing the administration and finances of the SS, then little by little had built up his network of companies. “Like any multinational, we’re very diversified. We’re in construction materials, wood, ceramics, furniture, publishing, even mineral water.”—“Mineral water?”—“Oh! That’s very important. It allows us to provide our Waffen-SS with drinkable water throughout all the territories in the East.” He said he was particularly proud of one of his recent creations: Osti, the East Industries, a corporation set up in the district of Lublin in order to put the remaining Jews to work for the SS. But despite his geniality, he quickly grew vague as soon as I wanted to talk to him about the Arbeitseinsatz in general; according to him, most of the effective measures were in place, it was simply a matter of giving them time to take effect. I questioned him about the criteria of selection, but he referred me to the functionaries in Oranienburg: “They know the details better. But I can guarantee you that ever since the selection has been medicalized, it’s going very well.” He assured me that the Reichsführer was fully informed of all these problems. “I don’t doubt it, Obergruppenführer,” I replied. “But the Reichsführer has put me in charge of seeing what the points of blockage are and what possible improvements there might be. The fact of having been integrated into the WVHA, under your orders, has entailed considerable modifications in our system of National Socialist camps, and the measures that you ordered or encouraged, as well as your choice of subordinates, have had a massively positive impact. The Reichsführer, I think, simply wants now to obtain an overall picture. Your suggestions for the future will count enormously, I don’t doubt that for an instant.” Did Pohl feel threatened by my mission? After this soothing little speech, he changed the subject; but a little later, he became animated again and even went out with me to introduce me to some of his co-workers. He invited me to come back and see him when I returned from my inspection (I was to leave for Poland soon, and also to visit some camps in the Reich); he followed me into the hallway, putting his hand on my shoulder in a familiar way; outside, I turned around, he was still waving his hand, smiling: “Bon voyage!”
